The invention relates to superconducting rotating machines (e.g., a superconducting electric generator or motor) and their constructions.
The worldwide demand for additional electrical generation is ever increasing. To meet these demands, larger and more efficient electrical generators are being developed. Electric generators convert rotational mechanical input energy (e.g., that from a steam or gas turbine) into electricity by rotating a rotor field within stationary armature conductors. In conventional generators, the generator field is produced with copper windings or permanent magnets.
The overall efficiency of an electrical generator is affected by the losses in the rotor windings and in the armature windings. By using superconducting wire for the field windings, these losses become almost negligible. Moreover, the overall volume of an electrical generator using high temperature superconductor (HTS) generator can be as much as 1/3 the volume of its conventional equivalent.
Such superconducting generators are also finding application in power plants where expansion is difficult (e.g., shipboard or locomotive power). Smaller, lighter HTS generators use an "air core" design, eliminating much of the structural and magnetic steel of a conventional equivalent. Construction, shipping, and installation are all simplified and less costly.